


The Space Between

by Saphrea



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Agender Chara, Agender Frisk, Bad Jokes, Chara is going to have a bad time, Gen, Good W. D. Gaster, Protective Sans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 03:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8605732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saphrea/pseuds/Saphrea
Summary: Frisk is trapped in the space between save files while Chara rampages through the Underground. All hope seems lost until Sans finds a way inside.





	1. The Window

Chapter 1: The Window

...

I wasn't sure how long I'd been here when Sans finally found me. Time made little sense in a realm of constant resets. Years, lifetimes, resets, deaths. I'd lost count of them even before Chara stole my body. Now, here in the gap between save files, time was a distant memory. Things that were, things that are, and things that might be all bled together in a kaleidoscope of death and mercy.

"hey, kid," said Sans in a voice so artfully casual that I might have believed it once upon a time. But the glint of his eye and the Gaster Blasters hanging in the blackness behind him belied the truth. He was here to kill me. Again. And this time, it would be permanent.

I opened my mouth to say something. Maybe I should tell him how sorry I was or beg for my life.

"Hi, Sans." It wasn't what I'd intended to say, and the small part of me that could still drudge up the will to care was saddened by the crack in my voice.

Sans's eye flashed, but his gaze shifted to the hole in the blackness, to where I was watching Chara frolic murderously through the ruins. I didn't like to watch it, but the alternative was the endless dark. And sometimes Chara did a pacifist route. I could watch and remember happier days. Sans flicked his wrist and the Gaster Blasters faded away.

"so, mind telling me what's going on?" he asked, flopping down beside me. He tilted his head toward Chara-in-my-body. "what is that?"

"Chara," I said. My voice felt rough and strange.

"it looks like you," Sans observed.

"It stole my body," I said. 'It' was probably the kindest thing I could call Chara. And I had to be kind, or else how could I know what was me and what was not? At one point, I'd become so lost that I couldn't even tell the difference anymore. It was important to know who I was, though I could hardly remember why anymore. "It stole everything."

"what's your name, kid?"

"Frisk."

"well, Frisk, you seem like a nice kid," said Sans.

"You're wrong," I said. "If I was nice, none of this would have happened. It's my fault. I'm so sorry, Sans."

Sans scratched his chin and gave me a sidelong glance.

"how did you end up in here, with that thing out there?" he asked.

I tucked my chin into my knees and watched the screen from beneath my bangs. This felt so familiar and strange all at once. I wanted to curl up by Sans's side and cry or maybe I wanted to run away and never look back. It was hard to tell.

Well, Sans had always been there in the Judgement Hall to sentence me for my crimes or to let me pass with advice and a kind word. It seemed right that he should be here now to judge me one last time. And if he chose to strike me down, I would not move. My Determination had long since been taken from me.

"I fell," I said. "The first time, I fell onto a bed of yellow flowers. There, I met Chara. It was so nice to me. It helped me up. It comforted me when I was afraid. It guided me through the Underground. It helped me find my way to the surface." I paused to watch Chara strike down Toriel. I should have felt pain, but the scene was too familiar. That wound no longer bled. "I trusted it completely."

"bad idea," Sans offered into the silence. I nodded. "you sure you want to watch this? i know i don't have the stomach for it."

The joke fell flat, as it usually did.

"Everyone was so happy to see the sunset," I said. "Life was good. No, it was perfect. But then it just became…life. I would ask Mom to watch the sunset with me, but she would say she was busy. Dad would be watering the flowers and wouldn't even look up to see the clouds. Alphys said that there would be a meteor shower, but she would rather watch a new anime show. I thought…I wanted to bring that joy back. I wanted everyone to feel wonder and hope again."

I watched Chara talk to the other Sans, the one inside the timeline. There was no fear. Why should there be? Sans had promised to never harm a human, and he didn't know that Toriel was ash just beyond the door.

"I reset time and did it all over again," I said. "I didn't mind. It was fun to meet everyone again. We played pranks together. I made puzzles with Papyrus. I went on all of Mettaton's shows. I brought us all to the surface. The joy was there again, and it was just as good as the first time. So I reset. And I reset. And I reset. I never wanted to stop. And the whole time Chara was there, watching. It waited until a bad run. For some reason I was having a hard time fighting Undyne. I just couldn't keep up. I died over and over and over again. It was hard to set her up with Alphys, but in the end, I managed it anyway. When we reached the surface, Chara finally spoke to me."

I stopped to watch Papyrus zap himself on his own puzzle. There was a time I would have laughed, but I could hardly remember what it felt like now.

"It told me how terrible Undyne had been this time and how sorry it was that I had to suffer like that," I said. "It told me how I should try to understand Undyne's position, her power, her resentment. Undyne had suffered so much at the hands of humans. And hadn't I as well? Wouldn't I want to use my power to make sure that no one else could ever hurt me? Didn't I want to get through the Underground without dying, even once?"

I felt disgust as the words slipped past my lips. At what point had those questions made sense to me? Repeated deaths had always done something strange to my Determination. It awakened my will to survive. And that was where Chara had found an opening, a weakness.

"It knew about my resentment," I said. "I've never once made it through the Underground without dying. Not once. Just about everyone had killed me, even Mom, though she always told me how sorry she was. She meant it, of course. But that was a cold comfort when I was dying at her feet. Even Papyrus beat me down to my last sliver of health, though he never actually killed me. I hated them a bit, though I loved them a thousand times more. When Chara whispered that I could kill them just once, just to see what it felt like to have power, to see what it felt like to get revenge for things only I remembered, I listened. I listened and I reset. I could always go back and reset at the end, right? No one would ever know."

Sans stiffened beside me. I had expected that reaction. I could have spun more excuses, but I'd long since given up lying to myself.

"So I killed…everyone," I said. "And with every death I felt better, freer, happier. Even now, I'm not sure if that was me or Chara. Maybe either, maybe both. And then I reached the Judgement Hall. And I faced you. You, Sans, who had never lifted a finger against me in all the resets. You, who I loved and trusted more than anyone else, even Mom. You, who were so incredibly lazy that you'd never stand a chance against me. I planned to spare you that first time, though now I think that sparing you might have been just as cruel. But you killed me."

Papyrus crumbled to dust on the screen, and Chara laughed. Sans's eyes were flickering blue, and I half expected the Gaster Blasters to make a reappearance and punish me then and there. But they didn't.

"I died," I said. "I deserved it. But at the time I was filled with anger. I died more times than I can count. And with every knife swing, Chara became stronger and stronger. Eventually it—we—wore you down. You chose to spare us, and I almost let Chara kill you anyway. But I came to my senses and remembered why I was there, what I had done and why. I dropped my knife, I ran to you, and I hugged you as hard as I could. And you killed me again. You told me that if we were really friends, I wouldn't come back. I'd die and stay dead."

"get dunked on," said Sans easily. Even now, I flinched at the familiar admonition. Strange, I was so sure that I couldn't feel anything anymore. Chara was hunting now, searching for the hidden monsters that hadn't been able to evacuate it time.

"It wasn't fair," I said. "At least, that's what I thought. I only wanted to kill you and then bring you back, as good as new and with no memory of dying. You wanted to kill me forever. I guess I hated you for that. Self-righteous anger from a murderer. That's a joke even you would say was bad."

"i'm not bone-headed enough to joke about that," said Sans.

"I guess not," I said. "But when we killed you, I finally understood. I realized what I'd done. I did a hard reset back to the start. But Chara was still there. We fought. It took control and killed. I took control and spared. We reset each other. We tried again. Sometimes it would wait in the back and emerge just long enough to kill Papyrus so that I would have to reset or face you. I couldn't reach my happy ending anymore no matter how hard I tried. Then…it finally grew strong enough to throw me aside completely. It took my body and my Determination. And now I'm here."

"and now you're here," Sans echoed. "eh, what a mess. and here i thought it would be as easy as cinnamon butterscotch pie."

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked. The question should have roused something in me: fear, relief, or pain. But there was only emptiness.

Sans thought about it before answering.

"nah," he said. His eye gleamed blue. "death brings out the worst in us. besides, i think i need your help."

I turned away from the screen to stare at Sans. Sitting like this, it almost felt like the first time again, where I was shy and uncertain and yet strangely hopeful.

"How?" I asked.

"i think i know a way to stop Chara," said Sans. "if you're up to a small challenge."

I blinked slowly at that and considered what he was asking. Was I prepared for a challenge? My Determination was gone. I was barely a shade of my former self. And Chara held all of the power. What could I do? No…what could we do?

And suddenly, I felt warmth bloom in my chest. I wasn't alone anymore. If Sans had somehow gotten into the space between timelines, Chara did not have power over him. That thought filled me up, and I raised my head from my knees.

I was filled with Determination.

...


	2. Trust

Chapter 2: Trust

…

I pressed my cheek against Sans's shoulder while he gave me a piggy-back ride through the darkness. It was more than a little disorienting to walk with no visual reference points, and I kept having vivid flashbacks of a treadmill in a dark room. But Sans seemed to know the way, and so I clung to his back while he carried me.

"How did you get here?" I asked after a while.

Sans turned his head slightly to peer at me and shrugged.

"well, i did a little of this and that," he said vaguely.

A bead of sweat had formed on his brow and I watched it trail down the side of his skull. No. It wasn't sweat.

"You're melting," I said. I reached up and tried to gather up the liquid bone and press it back into place. Sans allowed it.

"there are some side effects," he said. "don't worry about it, kid."

I patted his skull until I was reasonably sure that the melty-bit would stay in place.

"You used Determination, didn't you?" I asked. "I saw Alphys's experiments in the true lab. Sans, that's really, really dangerous."

Sans shrugged again.

"can't get much more dangerous than dead," he said. "besides, i took some precautions, and it worked, at least, a little. it turns out that Determination is cumulative across timelines. once i was able to keep track of my Determination injections across loops, i was able to add a safe-ish dosage. it allowed me to move outside of time."

"But not enough to take control of the timeline itself," I supplied. "Only the person with the greatest Determination can control the flow of time. Flowey had control before I arrived. Then I had control. And when my Determination wavered, Chara took control. It has a lot of Determination. More, I think, than you can safely use."

"right in one, kid," said Sans, sounding amused.

"I've had nothing but time to think things over," I said. "That's why you need me, right? There's no maximum dosage for a human."

"not quite," said Sans. "the Determination injections only exist within the timeline. we will have to work outside of time to fix this. for this, you'll have to trust me. think you can manage that?"

There was a distinct edge to the question, as though he was wondering if he could trust me rather than the other way around.

I leaned into his shoulder.

"On my first time through the Underground, I had a lot of trouble with Asgore," I said. "No matter what I tried, no matter how often I spoke to him or what I said, he still killed me. Over and over again. After a few rounds, I called you from outside the throne room and told you that he'd killed me. You listened to me and encouraged me. You were there for me until I was ready to try again. The first few calls, I would tell you how many times he'd killed me: ten, seventeen, twenty four. But eventually, I stopped. I had a feeling that you knew anyway. Sometimes, when my Determination was weakest, you would appear and take me to Grillby's. You want to know if I trust you now? Of course I do. You…have always been there to give me strength when I was weak."

Sans was clever. Sometimes I even thought that he might be a genius behind the knock-knock jokes, though I could never be sure. I hoped that he would understand my request so that I wouldn't have to put it into words.

I am weak. Please, Sans, I need you to give me strength.

I would never, could never, show my weakness to anyone else. The others rested all of their hopes and dreams on the shoulders of a child. It would have hurt them to see me break. But Sans was patient and his knowledge of the timelines made it easier.

"so what you're saying is that my jokes tickle your funny bone?" he asked.

I knew what he was really asking, and what I was asking of him. This Sans was probably from a genocide timeline. He'd watched Chara-in-my-body kill all of his friends, his loved ones, even Papyrus. In the end, I was the one responsible. It was my anger and hatred that gave Chara power. And here I was asking him to put on a happy face and joke around with me as though we could still be friends.

Not for the first time, I wondered what he was thinking behind that skeleton grin.

"Tibia honest, I've heard most of them before," I said. "But yeah, they make me believe that everything will be okay."

"well, well, who could resist an invitation like that?" Sans asked. "knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"dishes."

"Dishes who?"

"dishes a terrible joke."

I giggled. How could I not? Sans had an endless supply of knock-knock jokes interspersed with skeleton-based puns. I contributed my own occasionally. We joked for what felt like hours. But as time wore on, I began to look around.

"When will we arrive at…wherever we're going?" I asked at length.

Sans snapped his fingers.

"oh right," he said, as though just remembering that we were supposed to be going somewhere. And suddenly we were standing in a hallway.

Sans shrugged and I slid to the floor. I had a sneaking suspicion that Sans could have gotten us here in an instant if he'd wanted to. Whether this was a test or a joke, I wasn't sure. Probably both.

Sans ambled down the hallway until we reached a door. Beyond it was a pain room with gray walls. In the center of the room was a dark figure standing silently at a screen displaying a wide assortment of graphs and numbers.

The figure turned, and I drew back. It looked like a half-melted skeleton. It had obviously been injected with Determination, just as Sans had. But who was it? I was sure that Chara had killed everything in the entire Underground before, but I'd never seen this monster.

"hey, doctor Gaster," said Sans, waving a hand lazily. "i'm back."

The skeleton-thing, Doctor Gaster, said something unintelligible. Sans responded easily, apparently able to understand.

"i don't know, doc, they're always up to something," said Sans. His tone said that he was saying a pun, though I couldn't even guess at what the lead in for that would be. I decided that it was funny anyway. And the thought that half a pun was still punny filled me with Determination.

There was a blip on the screen behind Doctor Gaster, and he turned to watch it.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"the doc knew i had a bone to pick with you and was asking about it," said Sans.

"No, the screens," I said. "Something just happened."

"Determination detectors," said Sans. "among other things."

I approached the screens and Sans followed two steps behind. Some of the graphs were completely unreadable with strange symbols and markings, but there were others written in plain English.

The one labeled 'Kill Count' caught my attention. It was a graph of the number of monsters I'd killed across all of my runs. The very beginning held only a few monsters as I learned how to fight and spare. I recalled accidentally killing Toriel the first time through. I'd reset immediately and vowed not to proceed unless she didn't have to die. For a long time the graph was flat at 0. Then there was the spike for my first genocide run as well as a flurry of pacifist and genocide runs together as Chara and I fought. Then there was a near constant block of genocide interspersed rarely with a pacifist. Sans stood behind me and added notes to the graph where there had been question marks. He crossed out the question over my first genocide run.

'Why?'

I looked away.

There was also a graph detailing the number of times that I had died in each timeline. I was embarrassed by the absurdly high number at the beginning. I would never describe myself as agile, but that was a lot of deaths. I improved greatly over time, but the death count never hit zero until Chara took control. Chara was, simply put, better than me.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked.

Sans leaned against the wall, head tilted slightly to listen to Doctor Gaster, who was pointing to another graph. This one had four lines overlaid with complicated-looking equations. Sans nodded.

"the person with the most Determination wins," said Sans. He pointed at the highest line. "this is Chara, right at the top." Sans pointed to the second highest line. "this is the doc. he's beyond the safe limits for a monster, and he's falling apart from Determination poisoning." Sans pointed to the second lowest line. "this is my determination level. low, but high for a monster." He pointed to the lowest line. "this is your determination. high at the beginning, scraping at the bottom right now. but getting better."

Seeing the uptick in my Determination levels at the end of the graph filled me with Determination.

The screen flared, and my line rose higher, just barely passing Sans.

"good," said Sans, sounding satisfied. "but we're not there yet."

"No," I agreed. "Chara also had Determination, but it didn't gain control of the timeline until it stole mine too."

"exactly, Determination can be taken, or shared, as well as earned," said Sans. "moving Chara outside of the timeline might make it vulnerable, but that is speculation." He gestured vaguely to the graphs behind him. "or it might just reset from outside of time."

"So, you were hoping to kill it, but since that's not a guarantee, you want to out-Determination it instead?" I asked. It made sense, but I eyed the gap between my Determination and Chara's. That was no small feat. Chara had more Determination than the rest of us combined. "But with no Determination injections here, we'd be stuck with whatever Determination I could generate myself."

"not exactly," said Sans, and his eye flashed blue. "Determination can also be attached to a body as well as a soul."

It took me a moment to understand what he was asking, but then I nodded.

"You want me to merge with Chara again and fight it for my Determination," I said. It wasn't a question, but I wanted to say it aloud anyway. That made it seem less like a wild dream and more like an actual plan.

Sans nodded and pointed to Chara's determination line. It had spiked when Chara threw me out of the timeline altogether.

"from what we can tell, this is the Determination associated in your body," said Sans. "Chara has a little Determination attached to its soul, or whatever it has. returning to your body is your best chance to get it back."

"And how can I get back into my body?" I asked. "I can't enter the timeline anymore."

"no, but Chara isn't always in the timeline, is it?" Sans asked. "eventually, it needs to enter the save screen." Sans flicked his wrist, and an unnoticed door opened in the wall. I saw the familiar save screen beyond with the words 'Continue' and 'Reset' hovering in the air. "in fact, no matter how good it gets, it always saves right before the judgement hall. always."

I smiled at that.

"You did leave a pretty strong impression on it," I said. "I think it still fears you a little. You're its own little angel of death."

Sans laughed easily, like it was a joke.

"you know, every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings," said Sans. I recalled the bells that rung right before Sans's judgement and grinned.

"When will Chara reach the Judgement Hall?" I asked.

"well, funny you should ask," said Sans. Doctor Gaster pressed a button, and on the screen I saw the telltale door to the Judgement Hall. Chara was approaching, it had been skipping playfully up until this point, but it slowed to a more sedate pace. It still grinned, but it knew that a true battle was about to begin. "ready to go, kid?"

I looked from Chara to Sans and finally to the save screen.

"I want my body and my Determination back," I said. "I'm ready."

I stepped through the door and into the save screen with Sans one step behind.

…


	3. A Bad Time

Chapter 3: A Bad Time

…

We stood side by side in the save screen. I kept my eyes locked on the patch of green where Chara would soon appear. I could see Sans in my peripheral vision. He stood absolutely still, his eyes empty and black. As we waited, I thought about all of the battles in the Underground, mine and Chara's. I knew I was outclassed. I knew that it would be stronger and faster than me. I knew that it possessed Determination able to warp the laws of space and time.

And yet I stood here to face it anyway.

"Sans," I said. "I just wanted to say this one last time: you are my friend, and I'm sorry for everything. There will be no reset for me if I die, but I will give anything to make this right."

Sans did not look at me. He did not speak. But from the corner of my eye, I saw him nod, a shallow, quick motion of acknowledgement.

"Well, well, isn't that sweet," said Chara, and my focus snapped back to the spot of green. When had Chara appeared? I'd been watching, or perhaps I'd been too focused on Sans. "If it isn't Boring and Boneyard. How did you two find your way here?"

Chara looked like me. It had my body. It had my face. It had my clothes. But its eyes were red and as cold as death. As I watched at it stare me down, my mouth went dry and I could not speak. Beside me, Sans was silent.

"Oh, I suppose it doesn't matter," Chara laughed, touching the tip of its knife to its-my lips. "I should thank you! It's been getting a little dull in the timeline, you know. I've killed everyone so many times now. Even their screams are getting a little repetitive. I originally wanted you to watch as many deaths as you made me watch mercies, but I suppose I have less Patience than Determination. But this…this will be fun."

"No, it won't," I said. "This ends here."

Chara's grin widened.

"Am I going to have a bad time?" it asked playfully. "Isn't that your line, Sans? This is where it stops. This is where it ends. When has that ever been the case? I've been toying with the idea of ending it all anyway. I just haven't been able to find a suitably dramatic way of kicking things off. After all, how could I make the final timeline any different from the thousand other times? But this is perfect. Once I kill you, I will erase this world once and for all. There will be nothing of this world left for you to save."

Sans was the only monster in the Underground that could initiate a fight. For everyone else, Chara or I would have the first move. I'd been shocked the first time, and my death was nearly instantaneous. Chara had fought Sans a thousand times and knew him well. But even that malevolent thing wasn't ready for the Gaster Blasters that had been making their way into flanking positions around us all.

"Sneaky!" Chara laughed, leaping up, its blood-red soul emerging from its-my chest to begin the dance of death and bones. It was damaged, losing almost a third of its health in that one move. Chara slashed with the knife and Sans dodged easily, the motion practiced and perfectly timed. "You can't dodge forever, Sans. Your Determination is weaker than mine. You will dodge until your Determination poisons your very bones or you fall from exhaustion. I will defeat you."

I'd lived this fight a hundred times and watched it a thousand more. But to stand here and see the ballet of motion was something else. Chara was smooth perfection, sliding through the impossibly small gaps between bones and maneuvering around each attack as though the whole scene had been choreographed and rehearsed. Chara's awareness came not from practice, but from an intimate understanding of Sans himself.

Sans did not know Chara as it knew him. He could not predict its movements and compensate. There was only one person who knew Chara so well. My eyes traced their steps and I could almost see their positions before they moved.

There.

And in the next moment, my soul was bared, a red twin to Chara. I lashed out, ready to catch it as it leaped over Sans's attack. It had nowhere else to land. I would strike it with all of my strength. It would have to be enough.

I expected fear in Chara's eyes, not the manic grin and giggle.

"Finally."

And suddenly it was no longer my turn. Chara's knife swung down, straight at my exposed soul. I was not, had never been, fast enough. I had only one infinitely long moment to see my impending doom and feel a crushing wave of despair before it was over.

Sans was between us. He had only a single hitpoint. There was no contest between him and Chara's blade. Chara landed and laughed, its howls long and loud and echoing endlessly into the darkness. I caught Sans as he fell back. Sans never died instantly, unlike the other monsters. He always lingered long enough to give a few final words for his fallen brother.

"Oh Sans, you stupid, stupid fool," it said. "Giving your life to save a human? You wouldn't even stand between me and Papyrus, but you'll save the pathetic, twitching insect that's been using your life for entertainment? And dear little Frisk. Even after all this time, you're still not fast enough to survive a fight. I loved you most for that. Even if I couldn't kill everyone while you were in control, I did enjoy watching you die over and over and over again. I think I'll enjoy it most this one last time."

"…body…"

Sans's voice was barely more than a whisper as the red liquid dripped from the wound in his chest.

Right.

I wanted…no, I needed my body and my Determination to win this fight. Sans could still be saved, if not in the space outside of time, then within time after I'd reset. My survival was his only hope. I bared my soul again, shooting forward from my body. Chara's soul dodged easily, a contemptuous sneer across its-my face. But I didn't stop. Its-my body was so close. Too close to flee. The look on Chara's face as I tore away from my current body and soared straight toward it was a mix of shock and anger. It tried to move, but it was too late.

Its-my-our body embraced my soul at once.

And then a new battle began as our souls clashed for dominance. It was unlike the first time our souls merged, where I had tentatively reached out to let Chara's small, warm presence into my heart. That had been gentle, like reaching out and holding its hand. This was like punching a brick wall.

By now Chara had a firm hold on its-my-our body, though it was loosened by entering the battle. I was able to force my way inside, but Chara immediately began to push me out. Our souls fought, writhing and choking one another. And slowly, surely, my Determination began to return.

Chara could feel it too, and the wrath morphed to panic, forcing us closer and closer. Its-my-our Determination bled from one to the other, siphoning the will to win and…other things.

I don't know when it began, the small trickle of memories that drifted from Chara to me. I did not have the concentration to spare when thoughts and feelings not my own began to invade my soul. I remembered (cold, pain, tears)…things. I remembered (quiet, dark, terrifying)…places. I remembered (empty, cruel, uncaring)…people.

Voices.

Hurt or be hurt. There is no one here to save you now. You're weak. You're pathetic. They only pretend to care about you. If they loved you, you wouldn't be in so much pain.

Not mine. Not real.

I'd never known, never bothered to ask in all our time together, why Chara had climbed the mountain. I could feel my own memories along the bond and knew what Chara could see. I had run away from things I could not face. I had run toward a fate I could call my own.

You can't do it. You're too young. You're too small. You're too weak. You will never be a hero. Keep your head down and accept your fate.

No.

For too long I'd listened to those words, and for too long I'd believed them. But the mountain stood beyond my home, the promise of something more. It was a chance to prove myself against everyone who sought to tear me down. It was the break in the bleak, uninterrupted drone of my young life. It was a chance to be more than a nobody.

It felt petty to see these memories now, after all I'd done, after all the pain I'd caused. But even now, having experienced life and death and pain, I could not regret my decision to climb the mountain. For the first time in my life, I'd had friends. I'd had people who believed in me. I'd had people who needed me.

The memories of my friends, the monsters I loved, filled me with Determination.

It was close now. I was pulling more and more Determination from Chara's grasp. It was clawing at my soul, attempting to shut me out, to rip me from its-my-our body. I could win. I could save everyone.

No, you can't.

It wasn't Chara's voice that echoed through my soul then. It was only a memory. But memories have power, and this one made my Determination waver for a single, terrible moment.

And Chara threw me from its body.

"You think you can win against me?" Chara asked. Its voice was high and shrill, filled with anger and fear and disgust. "Only the weak feel pain. Only the weak get hurt. Only the weak lose everything they love. I am not weak. I cannot lose. I AM STRONGER THAN YOU."

My soul was still exposed, my previous body was dust now after I'd abandoned it. Sans was gone, probably dust as well. I was alone, and Chara raised its knife. Its eyes were red and bright. Its cheeks were flushed. Its grin was wide, changing the lines of its face until it hardly looked human at all.

"You pathetic child," said Chara. "I swore to get power no matter the cost, no matter if I had to sacrifice my life or myself. No one would ever hurt me again. Not my family. Not the monsters of darkness. Not even you. I will erase this world. I have strength. I have power. I have control. I will make this pain stop forever."

I couldn't even move as the knife swept in a wide arc down to my soul.

But just as my death seemed inevitable, a cage of white fingers wrapped around my soul and drew me back, away from the blade. The hand pulled me to a ribcage, until I rested in a cradle of bones. Then, as our souls merged and became one, I could see the world through a flashing blue eye.

Sans stood, his-my-our hand reaching up, fingers curled inward like claws.

Chara was going to have a bad time.  
...


	4. Judgement

Chapter 4: Judgement

…

Joining with Sans was nothing like joining with Chara. With Chara, the first time had been gentle and hesitant, with only the barest touch of our souls. The second time had been violent and brutal, with tearing and pain as our souls fought. With Sans, it was like an embrace, warm and reassuring. Our souls merged in an instant, molding and conforming to the shape of one another until we fit together seamlessly. My Determination flowed into him, and his magic flowed into me. With it came memories, not half-formed snippets of sound and pain, but knowledge and understanding.

I saw the past before my time.

"are you sure?" Sans asked. He wore a crisp lab coat rather than his usual hoodie and slippers.

Doctor Gaster, whole and undamaged by Determination, stood by a vial of red liquid and smiled sadly. When he spoke, it was with the strange noises I'd heard before. And yet I understood him perfectly.

"Our readings are undeniable," he said. "Someone has been resetting time, trapping us in a loop. We cannot escape. We must regain control of time or else we shall never be free."

This must have been when Flowey had control of the resets.

"and if you die?" Sans challenged, his eyes empty and black. "we need you."

Doctor Gaster leaned down and placed a hand on Sans's head.

"This is our only hope," he said. "If I cannot save us, our future will never exist. Nothing we do in this life will matter. Please forgive me."

I knew how it ended. Doctor Gaster was poisoned and scattered across space and time. Sans monitored the readings, noting how time kept resetting. Sans spent a long day and night standing at the counter holding an identical vial of Determination, wondering who would care for Papyrus when he was gone, wondering if any of it even mattered anymore. Eventually, he took Papyrus to Snowdin and simply gave up.

He still kept up with notes on the timeline. He was heartened to see time moving beyond the narrow loop it had been spiraling with Flowey, though at the time he did not understand why. With the help of his trans-temporal technology, he slowly developed a picture of the cause. Me. He tried so many times to make me happy. He hoped so badly that I would choose to end the loops myself. And with every reset, he grew more and more melancholy.

Then Chara took control.

I flinched from the memories Sans transmitted across loops. He watched Papyrus die again and again. The first few times hurt more than he could say. But his worst moment came many loops later as he recalled Papyrus's death once again and felt nothing.

He watched his brother die and he felt nothing at all.

He knew that it didn't matter. Papyrus would be alive again soon, and he'd die just the same. None of it mattered, not the good nor the bad. But eventually the timeline would progress, just as it had done before. Someone else would take control. Would he feel anything for the death of his brother then? Would he even know which goodbye would be for the last time?

The emptiness was what finally drew him back to the lab, back to the vial of Determination.

The emptiness was what led him to me in the darkness between save files.

Had I really sounded so broken when he spoke to me? Had I really looked so lost? All it took were those two words, and Sans knew that I was not the evil thing that had slaughtered his brother a thousand times over. But by my own admission, I was not innocent. When this was over, he wondered if he would know what to do.

And while I came to understand Sans's memories, he did the same with mine. I was aware of him watching my deaths, my pain, my fear. He knew my loneliness and heard Chara's soothing reassurances. He listened to my lies.

I flinched away from Asgore as he moved to hug me. It was two weeks after emerging from the Underground, and he wanted to hug me before I went off to bed.

"Frisk, what's wrong?" he asked, his expression sad and hurt.

"Nothing," I lied quickly. "I was just a little startled, that's all."

Reset.

"I'm not afraid of you. Why would I be? You've never, ever hurt me."

Reset.

"Of course I'm okay. I love you."

Reset.

"I just don't like hugs. I'm sorry."

Reset. Reset. Reset.

"Maybe you wouldn't be afraid of them if you survived the Underground," Chara told me. "You're afraid because you're weak. If you were strong, you would have nothing to fear."

"I can't do it," I said. "I love them."

"You fear them," said Chara. "They can see your terror. It hurts them too, especially because they do not understand. Just once, don't you want to live? You would never be afraid again."

I was a fool to listen to Chara. I was a coward. I was…I was a child too ashamed to ask for help. Chara had taken advantage of me, had offered me toxic encouragement and feigned sympathy until absolute evil seemed to be the only path left before self-destruction.

it's not your fault. come on, kid. we have a fight to win.

Sans was right.

My focus shifted to the world outside, to where Chara was shrinking back, its eyes filled with fear and loathing. It held its knife at the ready, but the blade trembled.

"How?" it croaked. "How? I killed you. I killed you. I killed you!"

Even as it asked, I knew. Health could be restored above maximum by sleeping. And what did Sans do? He slept. All. The. Time. He slept until his health was beyond absurd, beyond imagining. In every battle, he surrendered after a single strike, not because he was defeated, but because he knew he could not win. It was his last shred of vengeance to deny Chara-me the satisfaction of killing him. It was why our kill count never rose after fighting him, though neither of us ever thought much of that fact. Sans always returned to the lab and added trans-temporal notes to review when we reset. Trust Sans to twist the rules of battle. Trust him to keep his trump card an absolute secret until the moment when it truly mattered.

you're making me blush, kid.

Only you could weaponize laziness, Sans.

I-he-we grinned with eyes glowing brightly in the darkness.

"No," said Chara. And it lunged. It was almost funny how easily I-he-we dodged Chara's blade. It was laughable how slow Chara seemed now, ridiculous that I had ever been afraid of it. Chara leaped and fought as I-he-we brought up an attack of bones and Gaster Blasters. But while Chara was still fast, I knew its mind as well as my own. Blast, blast, bone dance. There.

Chara was caught off-balance, too far from safety. The Gaster Blasters caught it right in its panicked face. Its health dropped low. Chara's expression grew wild, and it did the only thing left for it to do.

It fled.

It did not get far.

An attack of blue bones was enough to stop it in its tracks. Freezing the blue bones in place as they passed through its body pinioned it as Gaster Blasters rained white fire from the sky. I-he-we watched Chara's health drop further and further until only a single hit point remained.

"This is the end," I-he-we said. "Run."

And what else could Chara do? It ran, its soul ripping from its-my body and darting into the darkness. I did not care where it went, only that it was gone. The tiny amount of Determination attached to Chara's soul was not strong enough to affect the timeline. Sans dispelled the blue bones and knelt beside my body even as our souls slowly disentangled. If joining had been simple, parting was challenging. But in time it was done.

My soul slid from Sans's chest, and he took me in his hand. He laid me gently into my own body, and I took a long, shuddering breath. I blinked up at him, and I stared. I knew from seeing Asriel that monsters who had absorbed human souls took on different physical characteristics, but the changes were still startling. The crown of bone spikes was new, as were the bone wings, and there was the small fact that Sans could now dwarf Asgore in sheer size. He looked…absolutely terrifying.

And then he stepped back, and he was Sans once more, scruffy and smiling and scarcely larger than myself. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and I sat up.

"Well done, Children," said someone behind me. I turned to see Doctor Gaster holding a heart-shaped locket, the same one in Asgore's castle with the words 'Best Friends Forever' inscribed inside. It now held a very distinct red glow. I opened my mouth to ask why he was speaking English, but after a moment, I realized that he wasn't. I simply understood his strange words. Because Sans had understood him. It took monumental effort, but I did not think about the implications of that. "Chara is now confined within the vessel I have created for its soul."

Doctor Gaster held it out to me, and I took it numbly. It was over. It was finally over. I looked up at Sans and started to smile, but I stopped when I saw his black-eyed stare.

Right.

I was not innocent. My final judgement remained. A thousand thoughts went through my mind then. I thought about begging, about excuses, about reaching over and resetting the world. I had the Determination. I could do it.

But I didn't.

I held out the locket with Chara's soul.

"You don't need me," I said. "Seven souls to break the barrier. If you reset the world, you can save everyone with this. You can have a happy ending without me."

Sans did not speak. He did not move. I felt a wave of relief for his hesitation, both because he did not instantly condemn me, but also because he did not instantly absolve me of my sins. I had earned the right to be judged fairly, and I could accept whatever he chose, whether it was death within darkness or life without friendship.

Sans finally stepped forward and reached out his hand. He closed my fingers around the locket.

"it wouldn't be a happy ending without you, kid," he said.

My eyes stung horribly.

"Will you…will you be there?" I asked, but even as I spoke, I knew the answer and was filled with relief. Sans had performed the Determination injections across multiple loops. This allowed him to make an echo-copy of himself filled with Determination. That was how he could be here and within the timeline at once. He intended to copy his consciousness back over when I reset. He would remember. He would still be there.

But Doctor Gaster…

I looked to him, and he smiled sadly.

"This is where I belong now," he said. "Do not fear for me, Child. I will not be long in the darkness. Soon it will be time for me to pass on."

As though to emphasize the point, his face dripped a little more. I ran over and hugged him fiercely. I had not known him long, but I still knew him through Sans's memories. Doctor Gaster patted my hair until my breathing calmed and I let go. He turned to Sans, who drew him aside so that they could speak privately. I stood on the patch of green to wait.

When Sans finally returned, his eyes were oddly dimmed.

"ready when you are, kid," he said. But I hesitated.

"There's…just one more thing," I said. "Sans, I don't want to save or reset ever again. If…if I die, please promise me that you'll take the locket and break the barrier."

Sans's eyes darkened completely.

"aw, kid, you know how much i hate making promises," he said. "but i will make this one promise just for you. i promise to protect you. understand? no matter what happens, you will not die. and you'll never have to reset again."

I nodded, and my eyes were stinging again.

"Thank you."

I pressed the Reset button.

For one final time, I woke in a bed of golden flowers with sunlight shining on me from above.

…


	5. Epilogue

Epilogue  
…

I sat on a small wooden bench and watched the sunset alone. Six months above ground was enough time to dull the amazement and wonder of the monsters of Mount Ebott. But this time around I'd long since come to terms with my ordinary life beyond the adventure and horror of the Underground. This was my happy ending, and I was content.

There was meaning in my life when Toriel tutored me with my homework every night.

There was meaning in my life when Asgore let me putter around his garden.

There was meaning in my life when Papyrus showed me how to create ever-more elaborate puzzles in the labyrinth surrounding the monster city. Some of them were getting particularly complicated, requiring sophisticated knowledge of spaghetti noodles and pasta sauces. But the labyrinth was necessary because 'free' and 'safe' were not the same thing.

I felt Sans's arrival before I saw him. It was always like that between us. Even when we were far apart, I could still sense his soul, a faint spark of life and reassurance. When he was close, I could even feel his thoughts.

"hey kid, mind if i join you?" Sans asked lazily. I smiled and patted the bench beside me. Sans flopped down and watched the red sky through half-lidded eyes.

As he settled beside me, his awareness brushed against mine and I knew why he was here. He'd felt my twinge of loneliness and wanted to make sure I was alright. He did that occasionally. Whenever I felt sad or alone or afraid, Sans would appear. He would appear outside my school after a bad day or outside my door after waking from a nightmare. It was an extension of his promise, because death was not the only thing I needed protection from.

I leaned into his side, and the memories of his day drifted across my mind. He'd spent the morning reviewing notes on the timeline to make sure that no one had hijacked it. He'd spent the afternoon playing pranks on humans trying to get into the labyrinth. It was something of a legend even after only a few months. There were plenty of terribly challenging puzzles to keep people away from truly dangerous areas, but Sans still liked to keep an eye on things.

I felt Sans skimming my own thoughts, and I focused on the snail habitat project I was working on for class. I was particularly proud of that one, and I let my feelings color the memories. I couldn't completely hide the memory of Toriel and Asgore saying that they did not have time to watch the sunset with me, though. Sans patted my head and ran his fingers through my hair. It was alright. He was here, and I was not alone.

"did Asgore mention the human delegation arriving soon?"

I nodded.

Being an ambassador between monsters and humans was, of course, complicated and required a fair amount of extracurricular work. Toriel made sure I never fell behind (well, more behind) on my schoolwork, though. Thousands of loops and resets had done terrible things to my memory of multiplication tables, but I was getting back on track with her patient lessons. Her smile always brightened when we sat down at the kitchen table and cracked open a school book.

I'd been a little worried at first. Humans were so much stronger than monsters. Or, at least, that's what I'd thought. Chara had been able to slaughter the entire Underground single handedly. What hope did the monsters have here on the surface, which was populated by billions of humans? But my fears were mostly unfounded. Chara's strength came from draining Determination from my soul as well as the residual power from joining with Asriel. And monsters were stronger than they once were. Their souls were weak, but their magic was powerful. They were not the helpless victims I feared. They could survive.

And, besides that, they had Sans and me. There was a peculiar side effect of our joining. Our power was still linked even after separating, especially when we were in close proximity. Added to that, Sans's knowledge of shortcuts meant that he could appear anywhere and instantly shut down any aggressive actions from the humans.

Strange how I now thought of humans as something else, something other than myself. Perhaps I did spend too long in the Underground. I didn't feel particularly human anymore. I was comfortable with that fact. I'd met far too many humans who thought that 'child' was just another word for 'prey'.

"Do you think there will be trouble?" I asked. Sans always had a bit of extra knowledge and intuition that he never got around to explaining.

Sans shrugged.

"who knows?" he asked, giving me a sidelong glance. "shouldn't you be heading home? it's getting dark."

True. The sun had finally crossed the horizon and the stars were out. I could sit here for a while longer, but the air was cold as autumn crept toward winter. I slid from the bench, and by the time I turned to look back at Sans, he was gone. He wasn't far, though.

I shook my head and began walking down the long, curved path toward the castle where Toriel, Asgore, and I lived. Beyond it, I could see the industrial labs where Alphys was creating a whole host of robots for various purposes. Farther down the slope, I could see the training grounds where Undyne was probably still training a new crop of fighters even at this late hour. I could see the bizarrely complicated house where Papyrus and Sans lived right on the edge of the labyrinth. I spotted a dozen other places where my friends would be right now. The soft light from their windows was an assurance that everything was right with the world.

I looked up toward the stars and smiled.

"Hey, Kid," said a gruff voice. I turned, startled by the newcomer. It was not a voice I recognized.

"Who are you?" I asked carefully. I stood with my hands held loosely at my sides in a completely nonthreatening pose. Monsters sometimes didn't realize how frightening they could be to small children. It was best not to spook them by acting aggressive in response to perceived aggression.

A shadow stepped forward, and I stiffened slightly. It wasn't a monster. It was a man. A man with a long blade and cold eyes. Before falling into Mount Ebott, the sight of an armed stranger would have left me paralyzed in fear. Hundreds of loops through the Underground and I would have been badly shaken and ready to beg for my life. Now, I felt only resignation and a small touch of annoyance.

"Are you the human that belongs to the royal monsters?" the man asked, moving the blade slightly so that the edge caught a flash of light. The question was likely unnecessary. I was the only human living within the walls, although there were plenty of children who tried to pass through the labyrinth. I suppose it wasn't impossible that I could be from the outside.

"My mom is Queen Toriel and my dad is King Asgore," I said, because this conversation was only going to end one way, and I was hoping to get on with it. "Who are you?"

But the man did not respond. Instead, he dove forward, knife extended. I sidestepped easily. I routinely fought a dozen monsters faster than this man. If it came to speed or stamina, I would win. If it came to strength, I could still win, but there was usually no reason to go that far.

I did a quick check on him. Relatively low hit points but moderate strength. It might have been a problem if he was fast, but he wasn't. He would also not survive more than a single hit from me, so I wouldn't be able to attack him at all. I shrugged and spoke to him between his strikes instead. He didn't seem to be listening, though he grew more exhausted with every attack. His Determination was quite low.

"Please, stop this," I said as kindly as I could. "There is no need to fight, and you cannot win against me. I don't know why you're here or what I have done to make you hate me, but this is pointless. Please, you can still go home."

The man was panting heavily now, his eyes wild and confused. He hadn't expected a mere child to stand against him so casually. If only he knew. In a way, I was far older than he would ever be, and my life was nothing but a constant battle for survival and death.

"What are you?" the man asked, a slight edge of fear to the question.

Well, there were always the less-polite methods of non-violence.

I let magic fill me up until my eyes glowed with power.

"I am Determination," I said, opting for threats over reasonableness. "And you cannot defeat me."

The man looked frightened now, his eyes darting between me and the darkness he had emerged from. I just was wondering if another threat might help when I felt a presence at my back and smiled. From my peripheral vision, I could see wings of bone. The man's eyes looked up and up and up.

"if you keep going the way you are now, you're going to have a bad time."

The man fled.

"Was that our delegation?" I asked, not looking around until I felt Sans shift back to his normal form. I released my own power with a sigh and let the tension drain from my shoulders.

"maybe," said Sans, slouching over to stand in front of me. That meant 'yes'. I doubted that a normal human could get through the labyrinth at this point, and the human delegate would be the only one with a free pass.

Delegates, I corrected, skimming Sans's thoughts. There were supposed to be three.

"Walk me home?" I asked him.

"sure, kid," he said. "your mom is probably getting worried. come on, i know a shortcut."

I followed Sans through a hole in space and time. Asgore and Toriel were in the living room talking amicably. When he saw me, Asgore opened his arms and smiled. I threw myself into his hug and laughed.

"Did you have a good day, Frisk?" he asked, ruffling my hair.

"Yeah, Dad, it was exciting," I said. I kissed his nose. "I love you."

His smile softened and he kissed my forehead.

"I love you too, Frisk. Now go wash up for dinner. Your mother even made her butterscotch cinnamon pie for dessert. Sans, you're welcome to stay if you'd like."

But Sans waved a hand and slouched out the door, saying something about other things to do. I caught a quick thought of the human man dipped in a giant vat of honey and smiled. Sans would find out if the human had acted alone or if the others were a threat. I wasn't really worried. This was just another day of politics. There was nothing to be afraid of.

I gave Toriel a hug, a kiss, and an 'I love you' before heading into the kitchen to wash up. As we all sat down for dinner, I looked up to my family. It was true that there would be some days that felt dark and lonely. It was true that I would never truly forget the pain and fear I'd felt in the Underground. It was true that there were many more dangers to face in the future.

But in these small moments where I was surrounded by my family, with my friends all safe and happy outside, and with my guardian angel looking out for me from the night, these moments were the happy ending I'd always wanted.

…


End file.
